Management apparatus and management method

ABSTRACT

A management apparatus manages works to supply components to component mounting devices in a component mounting line. The management apparatus includes a component remaining number information acquisition portion that acquires, from each of the component mounting devices, a remaining number of components stored in the component mounting device, a worker information storage portion that stores worker information including a working range of each of workers in the component mounting line, a work sequence decision portion that generates work sequence information indicating a work sequence of component supply works for each of the workers based on the worker information and component remaining number information about a plurality of components within a predetermined period of time, and an information transmission portion that transmits the work sequence information to the workers who should perform the works.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/936,853 filed on Nov. 10, 2015, which claims the priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-251639 filed on Dec. 12, 2014, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a management apparatus for managingwork for supplying components to component mounting devices, and amanagement method for managing the work for supplying components to thecomponent mounting devices.

2. Description of the Related Art

A component mounting line for mounting electronic components onsubstrates is constituted by a plurality of component mounting devicesconnected to one another, and each component mounting device is mountedwith a plurality of component feeding devices such as tape feeders.Generally, a worker who manages the component mounting devices performswork for supplying/replacing components when components stored in any ofthe component feeding devices are used up in the process where componentmounting work is continuously executed. The worker often carries outwork with a large number of component mounting devices. Therefore,various measures to reduce a work load have been taken.

For example, as a management apparatus for managing component mountingdevices, there has been known a management apparatus provided with afunction of giving an instruction to a worker to replace components whenthe components have been used up or are going to be used up (forexample, see JP-B-4491418). In the background art technique disclosed inJP-B-4491418, a working system for substrates is provided with aplurality of working mechanisms for carrying out work on the substrates.Whenever the necessity of support work such as component replacementwork occurs in the working system, support work for each workingmechanism is assigned to one of a plurality of workers.

However, in JP-B-4491418, each component replacement work is simplyassigned to a worker who is suitable for the work. There is a room forimprovement in view of increase in efficiency for assignment of aplurality of works to workers. That is, information about shortage ofcomponents or the like is not always given timely and surely for aplurality of component mounting lines. As a result, there is a casewhere facility stop may occur due to the shortage of components.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a managementapparatus and a management method capable of suppressing deteriorationin operating rate due to facility stop caused by shortage of components.

A management apparatus according to the invention is a managementapparatus that manages work to supply components to a plurality ofcomponent mounting devices in a component mounting line in which thecomponent mounting devices are connected to one another, the managementapparatus including: a component remaining number informationacquisition portion that acquires, from each of the component mountingdevices, a remaining number of components stored in the componentmounting device; a worker information storage portion that stores workerinformation including a working range of each of workers in thecomponent mounting line; a work sequence decision portion that generateswork sequence information indicating a work sequence of a plurality ofcomponent supply works for each of the workers based on the workerinformation and component remaining number information about a pluralityof components acquired by the component remaining number informationacquisition portion within a predetermined period of time; and aninformation transmission portion that transmits the work sequenceinformation to the workers who should perform the works.

A management method according to the invention is a management formanaging works to supply components to a plurality of component mountingdevices by a management apparatus that manages a component mounting linein which the component mounting devices are connected to one another,the management method including: acquiring, from each of the componentmounting devices, a remaining number of components stored in thecomponent mounting device; generates work sequence informationindicating a work sequence of a plurality of component supply works foreach of the workers based on worker information including a workingrange of each of workers in the component mounting line and componentremaining number information about a plurality of components acquiredwithin a predetermined period of time; and transmitting the worksequence information to the workers who should perform the works.

According to the invention, it is possible to suppress deterioration inoperating rate due to facility stop caused by shortage of components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams for explaining the configuration of acomponent mounting system to which a management apparatus according toan embodiment of the invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing processing functions of the managementapparatus according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are tables for explaining component related informationand operator information in the component mounting system to which themanagement apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention isapplied.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a view and a table for explaining floor layoutinformation in the component mounting system to which the managementapparatus according to the embodiment of the invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a table for explaining work sequence creation processinginformation for component supply works in the component mounting systemto which the management apparatus according to the embodiment of theinvention is applied.

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C are flow charts showing an execution form of thecomponent supply works in the component mounting system according to theembodiment of the invention is applied.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are tables for explaining a work sequence list of thecomponent supply works in the component mounting system according to theembodiment of the invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a working image of the component supplyworks in the component mounting system according to the embodiment ofthe invention is applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Next, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.First, the configuration of a component mounting system 1 to which amanagement apparatus according to the embodiment is applied will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. As illustrated in FIG. 1A,the component mounting system 1 has a plurality of component mountinglines L (only three lines are illustrated here). Each of the componentmounting lines L has a line information management portion 4. The lineinformation management portion 4 is connected to a management apparatus2 through a communication network 3. The management apparatus 2 has afunction of managing component supply works (here gives an instructionof a work sequence of component supply works to each worker).

The component mounting line L includes a plurality of facilities formounting components as illustrated in FIG. 1B. In the exampleillustrated here, the facilities for mounting components include aprinting device M1, a print inspection device M2, a plurality ofcomponent mounting devices M3 to M7, a mount inspection device M8 and areflow device M9. Those facilities (M1 to M9) for mounting componentsare arranged in series. Conveyor devices CV for conveying and deliveringsubstrates are disposed on the upstream side of the printing device M1,between the print inspection device M2 and the component mounting deviceM3, between the component mounting device M7 and the mount inspectiondevice M8, between the mounting inspection device M8 and the reflowdevice M9, and on the downstream side of the reflow device M9,respectively. Various kinds of information (line information) generatedin the operating process of each facility in each component mountingline L are collected and managed by the line information managementportion 4 belonging to the component mounting line L, and transmitted tothe management apparatus 2 through the communication network 3 inaccordance with necessity.

Each component mounting device M3 to M7 has component supply portions Tfor supplying components to be mounted on substrates. The componentsupply portions T are provided in opposite side portions of eachcomponent mounting device M3 to M7. Component supply devices can bedisposed in each component supply portion T. Examples of the componentsupply devices include tape feeders, tray feeders, stick feeders, etc.In this embodiment, a plurality of tape feeders are arranged in parallelin each component supply portion T. Examples of the component supplyportions T include feeder tables fixed to the component mountingdevices, carts removably attached to the component mounting devices,etc. When the component supply devices are tray feeders, the componentsupply portions T themselves are handled as tray feeders that arecomponent supply devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the component mounting system 1 has aplurality of component shelves 6 (only three shelves are illustratedhere, for example) as storage facilities for storing components to bemounted on the component supply portions T. Tape reels that storecarrier tapes holding components are stored in the component shelves 6.A component inventory information management portion 5 stores, updatesand manages the kind and number of components stored in each componentshelf 6 as component inventory information. The component inventoryinformation stored in the component inventory information managementportion 5 is transmitted to the management apparatus 2 through thecommunication network 3 appropriately.

Based on the line information transmitted from the line informationmanagement portion 4 in each component mounting line L and the componentinventory information transmitted from the component inventoryinformation management portion 5 in each component mounting line L, themanagement apparatus 2 executes processing to give an instruction toeach operator who is executing work in a production area so as to informthe operator of a work sequence with which component supply works willbe executed on the component mounting devices M3 to M7 when eachcomponent mounting line L is operated.

Next, the configuration and processing function of the managementapparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, themanagement apparatus 2 has a line information acquisition portion 11, acomponent inventory information acquisition portion 12, a to-be-suppliedcomponent decision portion 14, a component location informationacquisition portion 17, a work sequence decision portion 19, an operatorinformation acquisition portion 22 and a work sequence list transmissionportion 24 as processing function portions. In addition, the managementapparatus 2 has a component remaining number storage portion 13, acomponent related information management portion 15, a componentlocation information storage portion 16, a floor layout informationmanagement portion 18 and an operator information management portion 23as information management/storage portions.

Functions of the respective portions will be described. The lineinformation acquisition portion 11 acquires line information from theline information management portions 4(1), (2) . . . belonging to thecomponent mounting lines L(1), (2), . . . respectively. In addition, thecomponent inventory information acquisition portion 12 acquirescomponent inventory information from the component inventory informationmanagement portions 5 setting the component shelves 6(1), (2), . . . asmanagement targets respectively. Operators 8 (8A and 8B) are distributedin a production area 7 including the component mounting lines L and thecomponent shelves 6. Each operator 8 owns a portable terminal 9. Theportable terminal 9 has a wireless communication function, with whichinformation can be exchanged with the management apparatus 2. Theoperator information acquisition portion 22 acquires operator IDinformation 8 a (see FIG. 6) transmitted from the portable terminal 9owned by the operator 8.

The line information acquisition portion 11 acquires line informationtransmitted from the line information management portions 4 of therespective component mounting lines L. Examples of the line informationinclude information about the remaining numbers of components stored inthe tape feeders (component supply devices) of the component mountingdevices M3 to M7 that are facilities belonging to each componentmounting line L, facility event information 11 b indicating work eventssuch as component supply works executed in those facilitiesrespectively. Incidentally, the facilities 11, 12, . . . illustrated inFIG. 2 correspond to a facility 1, a facility 2, . . . (see FIG. 1B)belonging to the component mounting line L(1). Of the line information,the component remaining number information 11 a indicating the remainingnumbers of components is stored in the component remaining numberstorage portion 13. That is, the line information acquisition portion 11and the component remaining number storage portion 13 constitute acomponent remaining number information acquisition portion for acquiringthe remaining numbers of components stored in the component supplydevices from the component mounting devices M3 to M7, and storing theacquired remaining numbers of components.

Of the line information acquired by the line information acquisitionportion 11, the facility event information 11 b is transmitted to theto-be-supplied component decision portion 14 and the work sequencedecision portion 19. The to-be-supplied component decision portion 14performs processing for deciding to-be-supplied components, that is,components that should be supplied because the remaining number of thecomponents is reduced in the execution process of component mountingwork. In this processing for deciding to-be-supplied components, theremaining number of components in each component mounting device storedin the component remaining number storage portion 13 is monitored foreach tape feeder, and components whose remaining number has been smallerthan a remaining number threshold 30 a (see FIG. 3A) defined in advanceas default setting is decided as to-be-supplied components.Incidentally, when the system starts up, the remaining number threshold30 a is inputted as default setting and stored in the component relatedinformation management portion 15.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the remaining number threshold 30 a and asimultaneously portable number 30 b are included in the componentrelated information 30 that is stored in the component relatedmanagement portion 15. The simultaneously portable number 30 b is anumber of components the operator 8 can carry simultaneously by one-timecomponent supply operation. The simultaneously portable number 30 b isdefined in advance for each kind of components. The simultaneouslyportable number 30 b is data that will be referred to in processing fordeciding a work sequence in the work sequence decision portion 19, whichwill be described later. Incidentally, the simultaneously portablenumber 30 b may be set for each operator 8 in accordance with the skillof the operator 8 or may be set as a common value to be applied to allthe operators 8 equally.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the component inventory informationacquisition portion 12 acquires component inventory informationtransmitted from the component inventory information management portion5, that is, information about components stored as inventories in thecomponent shelves 6(1), (2), . . . Examples of the information aboutcomponents include kinds, numbers and locations of respectivecomponents. The location of components means a component shelf and alocation within the component shelf in which the components are stored.The acquired information is stored in the component location informationstorage portion 16 as component location information indicating theposition where components to be supplied are located. The componentlocation information acquisition portion 17 refers to the componentlocation information in the component location information storageportion 16 to specify the location information of components decided asto-be-supplied components by the to-be-supplied component decisionportion 14, that is, the component shelf 6 where the components arestored. The specified component location information is transmitted tothe work sequence decision portion 19.

Operator ID information 8 a transmitted from the operator 8 through theportable terminal 9 is acquired by the operator information acquisitionportion 22. The operator ID information 8 a includes at least anoperator ID 31 a. The operator ID information 8 a is stored in theoperator information management portion 23 as the operator ID 31 a ofoperator information 31 illustrated in FIG. 3B. On this occasion, an IPaddress of the portable terminal owned by the operator 8 correspondingto the operator ID 31 a (portable terminal IP address 31 b) is stored inthe operator information management portion 23 as the operatorinformation 31 together with the operator ID 31 a. Which operator 8 islogging in and which portable terminal 9 the operator 8 is logging incan be managed from the operator ID 31 a and the portable terminal IPaddress 31 b. That is, the operator information acquisition portion 22serves as a log-in state information acquisition portion for acquiringthe operator ID information 8 a as information indicating the log-instate in which each operator 8 is logging in using the portable terminal9 owned by the operator 8.

The operator information 31 includes working range information 31 c,skill information 31 d and component carrying/holding capacity 31 f aswell as the operator ID 31 a and the portable terminal IP address 31 b.The working range information 31 c is information indicating a workingrange assigned to the operator. The working range can be assignedaccordingly. For example, the working range is assigned by componentmounting line unit or facility unit. The working range where theoperator should work is specified by the working range information 31 c.That is, the operator information acquisition portion 22 and theoperator information management portion 23 serve as worker informationstorage portions for storing worker information including working rangesof operators in the component mounting lines L.

The skill information 31 d includes work engagement history information311 d and component supply work time information 312 d. The workengagement history information 311 d and the component supply work timeinformation 312 d are information about the technical level with whichthe operator can execute work. The work engagement history information311 d indicates a history of engagement in work. The operator who has alonger history of engagement in work is estimated to have a highertechnical level. The work engagement history information is, forexample, information about the date on which the operator started thework, information about the number of days for which the operator hasengaged in the work, etc. The work engagement history information isdefined by at least one of such pieces of information.

The component supply work time information 312 d is information aboutthe time for the operator to take for component supply work. Thecomponent supply work includes at least one of a so-called splicing workin which a tape of a new tape reel is spliced to a tape of a currenttape reel attached to a tape feeder serving as a component supplydevice, a work for setting a new tape reel in a splice-less type tapefeeder, and a work for attaching a new tape feeder mounted withto-be-supplied components to an empty feeder address of a componentsupply portion T of a component mounting device. The operator who isshorter in component supply work time is estimated to have a highertechnical level. The component carrying/holding capacity 31 f indicatesthe number of components the operator can carry and hold in one-timeoperation of component supply work, for example, how many tape reels theoperator can move with.

The work sequence decision portion 19 generates work sequenceinformation indicating a work sequence of a plurality of componentsupply works for each operator, based on component remaining numberinformation for a plurality of components acquired within apredetermined period of time by the component remaining numberinformation acquisition portion and stored in the component remainingnumber storage portion 13, and the operator information 31 (workerinformation) stored in the operator information management portion 23.On this occasion, the work sequence decision portion 19 decides the worksequence with the work sequence information including the work in whichthe operator acquires to-be-supplied components from the component shelf6, based on the component location information transmitted from thecomponent location information acquisition portion 17. Further, the worksequence is decided also referring to the aforementioned facility eventinformation 11 b, the aforementioned simultaneously portable number 30b, and the floor layout information 32 stored in the floor layoutinformation management portion 18.

Here, the floor layout information 32 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIG. 4A shows the floor layout in the productionarea 7 as a target. FIG. 4A shows an example of the production area 7including three component mounting lines L(1), (2) and (3) and threecomponent shelves 6(1), (2) and (3). In each component mounting device(see the component mounting device M3 to the component mounting deviceM7 illustrated in FIG. 1B) disposed in each component mounting line L,component supply portions T mounted with tape feeders serving ascomponent supply devices respectively are provided on the opposite sideswith respect to the center line of the component mounting device. Anumber is assigned to each component supply portion T so that thecomponent supply portion T can be identified and its position can bespecified. In the example illustrated here, numbers are assigned to thecomponent supply portions T on one side with respect to the center lineof the component mounting device as T(1) to T(5) in the order from theupstream side, and to the component supply portions T on the other sideas T(6) to T(10) in the order from the upstream side. Incidentally, anymethod may be used to assign numbers to the component supply portions Tand may be set accordingly.

In the aforementioned floor layout, reference coordinates are set at adesired place, and the position of each portion is defined using an XYcoordinate system defined with the reference coordinates as its center.In the embodiment, a point of intersection between the device centerline of the component mounting line L(1) and the straight lineconnecting the front end points of the component mounting lines L is setas reference coordinates, while the device center line of the componentmounting line L(1) is set as the X axis and the straight line connectingthe front end points of the component mounting lines L is set as the Yaxis. The position of each component supply portion T or each componentshelf 6 in the production area 7 is specified by numerical coordinatesin the aforementioned coordinate system. As a result, in the componentsupply work in which an operator extracts to-be-supplied components froma component shelf 6 and carries the extracted components to a componentsupply portion T of a component mounting line L to supply the componentsthereto, a moving distance from a desired component shelf 6 to a desiredcomponent supply portion T and further a moving distance between desiredtwo component supply portions T can be obtained by numerical operation.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the floor layout information 32 includescomponent mounting line ID 32 a, reference coordinate information 32 b,line layout/size information 32 c, line configuration facilityinformation 32 d, component shelf ID 32 e, and component shelf positioninformation 32 f. The component mounting line ID 32 a is an ID code foridentifying each component mounting line L(1), (2) or (3). The referencecoordinate information 32 b is information for specifying coordinates aspositional reference in the floor layout.

The line layout/size information 32 c includes data indicating thelayout of respective portions constituting the component mounting linesL, such as a mounting line length D1, line intervals D2 and D3, acomponent shelf distance D4, etc. as illustrated in FIG. 4A. The lineconfiguration facility information 32 d includes data about the kinds offacilities constituting each component mounting line L, the array of thefacilities, the size of each portion, etc. as illustrated in FIG. 1B.Those pieces of data include information about the array of componentmounting devices in each component mounting line, information about theposition of each component supply portion T to which components shouldbe supplied, etc. The component shelf ID 32 e is an ID code foridentifying each component shelf 6 individually. The component shelfposition information 32 f include data for specifying the position ofeach individual component shelf 6.

In this manner, the management apparatus 2 is further provided with afloor layout storage portion (floor layout information managementportion 18) for storing the floor layout information 32 including atleast one of kinds, sizes and positions of facilities constituting eachcomponent mounting line L. The work sequence decision portion 19generates work sequence information based on the floor layoutinformation 32.

The work sequence decision portion 19 includes a work sequence creationprocessing portion 20 and an operator-specific to-be-supplied componentdecision processing portion 21. The work sequence creation processingportion 20 performs processing to create a plurality of component supplyworks as targets. The operator-specific to-be-supplied componentdecision processing portion 21 performs processing to assign thecomponent supply works as targets to the operators individually. Basedon a result in which these two processings are taken into consideration,a work sequence of component supply works assigned to each operator isdecided. The decision result of the work sequence is outputted from thework sequence decision portion 19 to the work sequence list transmissionportion 24 as a work sequence list that is work sequence information foreach operator. The work sequence list transmission portion 24 transmitsthe outputted work sequence list (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) to the portableterminal 9 owned by the corresponding operator. Each operator executescomponent supply works along the work sequence list received by theoperator. That is, the work sequence list transmission portion 24 servesas an information transmission portion for transmitting work sequenceinformation to an operator who should perform works.

In the processing for creating a work sequence in the work sequencecreation processing portion 20, work sequence creation processingrelated information 33 illustrated in FIG. 5 is referred to. The worksequence creation processing related information 33 includes processingstart time acquisition information 34, conditions 35 and exceptionhandling 36. The processing start time acquisition information 34 isinformation serving as a precondition for the work sequence creationprocessing. The processing start time acquisition information 24includes log-in state information 22 a including operator ID information8 a acquired by the operator information acquisition portion 22 inaddition to the component remaining number information 11 a and thefacility event information 11 b acquired by the line informationacquisition portion 11.

The conditions 35 are conditions with which the work sequence iscreated. Here, first to prevent facility stop from occurring due toshortage of components is stipulated as (Condition 1) 35 a. That is, thework sequence is decided to prevent occurrence of such an event thatto-be-supplied components determined as components to be supplied by theto-be-supplied component decision portion 14 is used up before thecomponent supply work of the components is completed. Therefore, thework sequence is, for example, decided in consideration of the timebefore shortage of the components estimated in consideration of theconsumption rate of the components etc., that is, the component supplywork time 31 e of the operator information 31. The remaining numberthreshold 30 a referred by the to-be-supplied component decision portion14 is set to a numeric value which prevents facility stop from occurringdue to shortage of the components.

To make the moving distance required for supplying the components assmall as possible is stipulated as (Condition 2) 35 b. That is, themoving distance is obtained by arithmetic operation based on theinformation about the position of a component supply portion T to besupplied with the components. The position of the component supplyportion T is indicated in the floor layout information illustrated inFIG. 4B. The work sequence is decided to make the obtained movingdistance as small as possible. On this occasion, the work sequence maybe decided in such a form that a work to bring the components from acomponent shelf 6 is added to the work sequence. In this case, theinformation about the position of the component shelf 6, which serves asa component location position, is further taken into consideration. As amethod for deriving a result in which the moving distance is as small aspossible, for example, of results obtained by arithmetic operation, onein which the moving distance is the smallest may be selected, or one maybe selected, in consideration of other conditions, from results in whichthe moving distance is below a predetermined threshold of the movingdistance.

To preferentially supply components shorter in time before thecomponents are used up is stipulated as (Condition 35 d). That is, tosatisfy the (Condition 1) 35 a, component supply is executed to givepriority to components whose remaining number is smaller and whoseconsumption rate is higher.

As for (Condition 4) 35 d, when a plurality of operators are assignedwithin one and the same working range, an operator who should executethe component supply work is decided based on skill information of theoperator. Specifically, first, priority is given to an operator whosecomponent supply work time is shorter, with reference to the componentsupply work time information 312 d of the skill information 31 dregistered in the operator information 31 for the operator. When thereis no difference in component supply work time, priority is given to anoperator whose work engagement time is longer, with reference to thework engagement history information 311 d.

That is, the operator information management portion 23 serving as aworker information storage portion further includes technical levelinformation (skill information) about the technical level of eachoperator. The work sequence decision portion 19 gives priority to anoperator based on the technical level information when a plurality ofoperators are within one and the same working range.

As for (Condition 5) 35 e, when a desired operator in charge of a workhas not logged in, the work is assigned to another operator.Incidentally, when all the operators have not logged in, notification issent to a manager. That is, when an operator to whom a work should beassigned has not logged in, the work sequence decision portion 19assigns the work to another operator who has logged in, with referenceto information from the operator information acquisition portion 22serving as a log-in state information acquisition portion. On thisoccasion, another operator to whom the work is assigned may be decidedwith reference to the operator information 31. For example, an operatorwhose work engagement history is longer or an operator whose componentsupply work time is shorter may be selected with reference to the skillinformation 31 d.

The exception handling 36 stipulates exception handling in theaforementioned processing. That is, when an interrupt (such as an eventin which the remaining number of components is below a threshold or anevent in which the components is used up) occurs after a work sequenceis decided and work sequence information is transmitted to an operator,a work sequence is decided again in real time so that the components canbe supplied with priority.

That is, when a work high in emergency occurs after the work sequencelist transmission portion 24 serving as an information transmissionportion transmits the work sequence list 25 as work sequence informationto an operator, the work sequence decision portion 19 decides a worksequence again so that the work high in emergency can be performed withpriority. The work sequence list transmission portion 24 transmits, tothe operator, the work sequence list 25 based on the work sequencedecided again. Here, an example of the work high in emergency as atarget of exception handling corresponds to a supply work of componentswhose remaining number is below a remaining number threshold set as alimit or whose remaining number has been zero.

Incidentally, the aforementioned conditions (1) to (5) and theaforementioned exception handling are illustrated exemplarily. All orparts of those may be combined, or combined with other conditions orprocessings within the scope of the advantage of the embodiment

Next, the processing flow of the work sequence instruction system duringthe operation of the component mounting system 1 will be described withreference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 illustrates processing in the lineinformation management portion 4 of each component mounting line L,processing to be executed by the management apparatus 2, and processingto be executed through the portable terminal 9 operated by eachoperator, respectively.

When the system is started up in the management apparatus 2, thefollowing processing is started. First for the all, default setting isexecuted (ST1). That is, data contents meeting the contents ofprocessing to be executed are set in the remaining number threshold 30 a(see FIGS. 3A and 3B) of the component related information 30 stored inthe component related information management portion 15, the floorlayout information 32 (see FIGS. 4A and 4B) stored in the floor layoutinformation management portion 18 and the operator information 31 storedin the operator information management portion 23.

Next, an operator 8 (the operator 8A or 8B here) distributed in theproduction area 7 as a target starts up the portable terminal 9 owned bythe operator 8 and logs in the system (ST2). As a result, the operatorID information 8 a indicating the operator ID 31 a of the operator 8 istransmitted to the operator information acquisition portion 22 throughthe portable terminal 9, and the operator information acquisitionportion 22 acquires the operator ID 31 a of the operator 8 who haslogged in (ST3). Here, when an operator 8 to which the work should beassigned has not logged in, the work sequence decision portion 19assigns the work to another operator 8 who has logged in. That is, thework sequence decision portion 19 assigns the work to an alternativeoperator based on information from the operator information acquisitionportion 22 serving as a log-in state information acquisition portion.

When production is started in each component mounting line L, the lineinformation management portion 4 collects line information from eachfacility and updates component remaining number data of components inthe facility (ST4). The updated component remaining number information11 a is transmitted to the line information acquisition portion 11 ofthe management apparatus 2. Thus, the management apparatus 2 acquiresthe component remaining number information 11 a (ST5). The acquiredcomponent remaining number data are stored in the component remainingnumber storage portion 13. The line information acquisition portion 11acquires component remaining number information 11 a in a predeterminedcycle (for example, intervals of several minutes).

Next, to-be-supplied components are decided by the to-be-suppliedcomponents decision portion 14. That is, it is determined whether thereare components whose remaining number is smaller than the remainingnumber threshold 30 a stored in the component related informationmanagement portion 15 or not (ST6). Here, when it is determined thatthere are components whose remaining number is smaller than theremaining number threshold 30 a, the components are decided ascomponents to be supplied (ST7). On the other hand, when it isdetermined in (ST6) that there are no components whose remaining numberis smaller than the remaining number threshold 30 a, processing returnsto (ST5), and processing in and after (ST5) is repeated. That is,processing in and after (ST5) is executed after waiting for the eventthat the line information acquisition portion 11 acquires the componentremaining number information 11 a at a predetermined cycle.

When components to be supplied are decided in (ST7), the componentlocation information acquisition portion 17 acquires locationinformation of the components with reference to the component locationinformation stored in the component location information storage portion16 (ST 8). The component location information acquired by the componentlocation information acquisition portion 17 is transmitted to the worksequence decision portion 19, and a work sequence to be executed by theoperator 8A, 8B in order to supply the components is decided by the worksequence decision portion 19 (ST9). A work sequence list is createdbased on the decided work sequence (ST10). Next, the created worksequence list is transmitted to the operator 8A, 8B by the work sequencelist transmission portion 24 (ST11). Thus, the work sequence list 25 istransmitted to the portable terminal 9 owned by the operator 8A, 8B, andthe work sequence list 25 is displayed on a display screen of theportable terminal 9. The operator 8A, 8B executers a supply work of thecomponents in accordance with the displayed work sequence list 25.

In the component mounting line L in which such a component supply workis executed, the line information management portion 4 monitors anddetermines whether a component supply completion event has been receivedfrom each facility or not (ST13). When having received the componentsupply completion event, the line information management portion 4transmits the facility event information 11 b to the managementapparatus 2 (ST14). In the management apparatus 2, the line informationacquisition portion 11 monitors whether the facility event information11 b has been received or not (ST15). When the line informationacquisition portion 11 has received the component supply completionevent, the management apparatus 2 performs processing for updating thework sequence list (ST16). As a result, the components for whichcomponent supply has been completed is deleted from the work sequencelist 25. Returning to (ST11), similar processing is repeated. On theother hand, when it is not confirmed in (ST15) that the component supplycompletion event has been received, processing returns to (ST5). Similarprocessing in and after (ST5) is executed repeatedly. That is,processing in and after (ST5) is executed after waiting for the eventthat the line information acquisition portion acquires the componentremaining number information 11 a in a predetermined cycle.

That is, the management apparatus 2 is further provided with a workcompletion information acquisition portion (line information acquisitionportion 11) for receiving a component supply completion event serving aswork completion information from each component mounting deviceconstituting each component mounting line L. The work sequence decisionportion 19 updates the work sequence list 25 serving as work sequenceinformation based on the received component supply completion event, andtransmits the updated work sequence list 25 to each operator.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate examples of the work sequence list 25transmitted to each operator from the work sequence list transmissionportion 24. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate work sequence lists 25transmitted to the two operators 8A and 8B who are working in theproduction area 7 illustrated in FIG. 8, respectively.

Each work sequence list 25 includes an “operator field” 37 forspecifying an operator who should take charge of a component supplywork. Due to the “operator field” 37, an operator name and an operatorID can be specified. The work sequence list 25 includes an “work No.” 38a, a “target line” 38 b, a “table” 38 c, an “address” 38 d, a “componentname” 38 e, and a “location position” 38 f.

The “work No.” 38 a is a number given to each work. Here, the “work No.”38 a corresponds to the order with which the operator should perform thework. The “target line” 38 b shows a component mounting line L where thework should be performed. The “table” 38 c shows a component supplyportion T to which the components should be supplied in the componentmounting line L. The “address” 38 d shows a feeder address A where thecomponent supply work should be performed in the component supplyportion T. The “component name” 38 e shows a component name of thecomponents to be supplied. The “location position” 38 f shows acomponent shelf where the components are stored.

Incidentally, the work sequence list 25 does not list orders of works asin the embodiment, but may indicate a route of the component supply workitself visually. As a specific example, it can be considered that animage view of a floor and a moving route indicated by arrows asillustrated in FIG. 8 that will be described later are displayed on aportable terminal owned by an operator.

FIG. 8 shows an image in which each operator executes component supplywork in accordance with instructions in the work sequence list 25illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Here, the three component mounting linesL(1), (2) and (3) are disposed in the production area 7 in accordancewith the floor layout illustrated in FIG. 4A. Two operators 8A and 8Bhave been assigned to the component mounting lines L. Incidentally, inFIGS. 7A and 7B, only the range where the “work No.” 38 a is 1 to 4 isdepicted, but the range where the “work No.” 38 a is higher than 4 isnot illustrated.

First, the component supply work to be executed by the operator 8A willbe described based on the work sequence list 25 illustrated in FIG. 7A.The book shelves 6(1) and (2) are written in the “location positions” 38f in FIG. 7A. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the operator 8A firstmoves to the component shelf 6(1) (arrow a1), and extracts componentswhose component names are Paaa and Pbbb indicated by the “componentnames” 38 e here. Next the operator 8A moves to the component shelf 6(2)(arrow a2), and extracts components whose component names are Pccc andPddd indicated by the “component names” 38 e here.

The operator 8A holding those components moves to the component mountingline L(1) where work should be performed (arrow a3). In accordance withthe sequence indicated by each “work No.” 38 a, the operator 8A executescomponent supply work on the component supply portion T indicated byeach “table” 38 c sequentially. Incidentally, the contents of aninstruction indicated by each “component name” 38 e includes the numberof reels to be referred to when the operator 8A extracts, from thecomponent shelf 6(1), (2), tape reels storing the components to besupplied. This information about the number of reels is based on thesimultaneously portable number 30 b stipulated in the component relatedinformation 30 and the component carrying/holding capacity 31 fstipulated in the operator information 31. Thus, the number ofcomponents the operator can carry and hold simultaneously can bereasonably instructed in accordance with the capacity of the operator,so that the working efficiency can be improved.

The operator who has thus extracted the components to be supplied movesto the component supply portion T(2) first (arrow a4). Here, on thefeeder address A (A(3) in the example illustrated here) indicated by the“address” 38 d, the operator executes component supply work of thecomponents (component name Paaa) indicated by the “component name” 38 e.Here, as the component supply work, a tape of the components Paaa isspliced to a preceding tape that has been attached to a tape feederserving as a component supply device mounted in the feeder address A(3).After that, in accordance with the sequence indicated by each “work No.”38 a, the operator 8A executes component supply work on the componentsupply portion T indicated by each “table” 38 c sequentially in the samemanner.

That is, the operator 8A moves to the component supply portion T(5)(arrow a5), and next moves to the component supply portions T(9), T(8)and T(6) on the opposite side of the component mounting line L(1)sequentially (arrows a6, a7 and a8). In each component supply portion T,the operator 8A executes component supply work of components indicatedby each “component name” 38 e on the feeder address A indicated by each“address” 38 d. After that, though not illustrated in the work sequencelist 25 illustrated in FIG. 7A, the operator 8A moves to the componentsupply portion T(3) and the component supply portion T(5) in theadjacent component mounting line L(2) (arrows a9 and a10), and performscomponent supply work on each component supply portion T in the samemanner.

Next, the component supply work to be executed by the operator 8B willbe described based on the work sequence list 25 illustrated in FIG. 7B.The component shelves 6(2) and (3) are written in the “locationpositions” 38 f in FIG. 7B. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 8, theoperator 8B first moves to the component shelf 6(2) (arrow b1), andextracts here the components of the component names Pccc and Pdddindicated by the “component names” 38 e. Next the operator 8B moves tothe component shelf 6(3) (arrow b2), and extracts here the components ofthe component names Peee and Pfff indicated by the “component names” 38e. The operator 8B holding those components moves to the componentmounting line L(2) where work should be performed (arrow b3). Inaccordance with the sequence indicated by each “work No.” 38 a, theoperator 8B executes component supply work on the component supplyportion T indicated by each “table” 38 c sequentially.

That is, the operator 8B first moves to the component supply portionT(7) (arrow b4). Here, on the feeder address A(8) indicated by the“address” 38 d, the operator 8B executes component supply work of thecomponents indicated by the “component name” 38 e. Here, after that, inaccordance with the sequence indicated by each “work No.” 38 a, theoperator 8B executes component supply work on the component supplyportion T indicated by each “table” 38 c sequentially in the samemanner.

That is, the operator 8B moves to the component supply portion T(9)(arrow b5), and next moves to the component supply portions T(5) andT(3) in the component mounting line L(3) sequentially (arrows b6 andb7). In each component supply portion T, the operator 8B executescomponent supply work of components indicated by each “component name”38 e on the feeder address A indicated by each “address” 38 d. Afterthat, though not illustrated in the work sequence list 25 illustrated inFIG. 7B, the operator 8B moves to the component supply portion T(1) andthe component supply portion T(6) on the opposite side of the componentmounting line L(3) sequentially (arrows b8 and b9), and performscomponent supply work on each component supply portion T in the samemanner.

As has been described above, the management apparatus 2 illustrated inthe embodiment has a line information acquisition portion 11, anoperator information management portion 23, a work sequence decisionportion 19 and a work sequence list transmission portion 24 in order tomanage works for supplying components to a plurality of componentmounting devices (component mounting devices M3 to M7 here) in eachcomponent mounting line L in which the component mounting devices areconnected. The line information acquisition portion 11 serves as acomponent remaining number information acquisition portion by which theremaining number of components stored in each component supply devicecan be acquired from the component supply device. The operatorinformation management portion 23 serves as a worker information storageportion for storing worker information including a working range of eachworker in each component mounting line L. The work sequence decisionportion 19 generates a work sequence list 25 as work sequenceinformation indicating a work sequence of a plurality of componentsupply works for each operator, based on the worker information andcomponent remaining number information about a plurality of componentsacquired by the line information acquisition portion 11 within apredetermined period of time. The work sequence list transmissionportion 24 serves as an information transmission portion fortransmitting the work sequence list 25 to the operator who shouldperforms the works.

In this manner, notification about shortage of components for eachcomponent mounting line L can be performed timely, so that it ispossible to suppress deterioration in operating rate due to facilitystop caused by the shortage of components. In addition, for a pluralityof component mounting lines L, operators can be distributed reasonably.Accordingly, the number of workers distributed in a production floor canbe reduced to improve the productivity.

Incidentally, configurations, functional portions, processing contents,etc. in the embodiment described above are illustrated exemplarily.Those can be modified or combined suitably within the scope where theadvantage of the invention can be exerted.

A management apparatus and a management method according to theinvention can suppress deterioration in operating rate due to facilitystop caused by shortage of components. Therefore, the managementapparatus and the management method are useful in a component mountingfield in which electronic components are mounted on substrates.

What is claimed is:
 1. A component mounting system including a plurality of component mounting devices in the component mounting line in which the component mounting devices are connected to one another, and a management apparatus that manages works to supply components to the plurality of component mounting devices, the component mounting system comprising: a to-be-supplied component decision portion that performs processing for deciding components that should be supplied based on component remaining number information acquired from monitoring a remaining number of components in each component mounting device and determining whether the component remaining number is smaller than a remaining number threshold; a worker information storage portion that stores worker information including a working range of each of workers in the component mounting line; a work sequence decision portion that generates work sequence information indicating a work sequence of a plurality of component supply works for each of the workers based on the worker information, and component remaining number information about a plurality of components acquired by the component remaining number information acquisition portion within a predetermined period of time; and an information transmission portion that transmits the work sequence information to the workers who should perform the works such that the workers execute a supply work of the components in accordance with the work sequence information; a display screen that receives the work sequence information; wherein the display screen displays work sequence information include that a target line that shows the component mounting line where the works should be performed and a table that shows a component supply portion to which the components should be supplied in the component mounting line.
 2. The component mounting system according to claim 1, further comprising: a component location information storage portion that stores location information indicating locations of to-be-supplied components to be supplied to the component supply devices, wherein the location information includes specifying a component shelf where the to-be-supplied components are located; wherein the work sequence decision portion decides the work sequence with the work sequence information including a work in which the workers acquire the to-be-supplied components based on the location information.
 3. The component mounting system according to claim 1, further comprising: a work completion information acquisition portion that receives work completion information from the component mounting devices, wherein the work sequence decision portion updates the work sequence information based on the work completion information, and transmits the updated work sequence information to the workers.
 4. The component mounting system according to claim 1, further comprising: a floor layout storage portion that stores floor layout information including at least one of a kind, a size and a position of each facility constituting the component mounting line; wherein the work sequence decision portion decides the work sequence information based on the floor layout information.
 5. The component mounting system according to claim 1, further comprising: a log-in state information acquisition portion that acquires information indicating a log-in state of each of portable terminals owned by the worker; wherein when the portable terminal owned by the worker to be assigned a work is not in the log-in state, the work sequence decision portion assigns the work to another worker whose portable terminal is in the log-in state based on the information from the log-in state information acquisition portion.
 6. The component mounting system according to claim 1, wherein when a work high in emergency occurs after the information transmission portion transmits the work sequence information to the workers, the work sequence decision portion decides work sequence information again so that the work high in emergency is performed with priority, and the information transmission portion transmits the work sequence information decided again to the workers, wherein the work high in emergency is a work for supplying components whose remaining number becomes below a remaining number threshold set as a limit or whose remaining number becomes zero.
 7. A component mounting method for mounting electronic components on substrates by using an electronic component mounting system including a plurality of component mounting devices in the component mounting line in which the component mounting devices are connected to one another, and managing works to supply components to the plurality of component mounting devices by a management apparatus that manages the component mounting line, the component mounting method comprising: acquiring, from each of the component mounting devices, a remaining number of components stored in the component mounting; generating work sequence information indicating a work sequence of a plurality of component supply works for each of the workers by assigning priority to the workers according to conditions based on worker information including a working range of each of the workers in the component mounting line, and component remaining number information about a plurality of components acquired within a predetermined period of time; transmitting the work sequence information to the workers who should perform the works such that the workers execute a supply work of the components in accordance with the work sequence information; displaying the work sequence information on a display screen; wherein the display screen displays work sequence information include that a target line that shows the component mounting line where the works should be performed and a table that shows a component supply portion to which the components should be supplied in the component mounting line.
 8. The component mounting method according to claim 7, further comprising: deciding the work sequence with the work sequence information including a work in which the workers acquire the to-be-supplied components based on location information indicating locations of to-be-supplied components to be supplied to the component supply devices.
 9. The component mounting method according to claim 7, further comprising: receiving work completion information from the component mounting devices, wherein in the deciding process, the work sequence information is updated based on the work completion information, and the updated work sequence information is transmitted to the workers.
 10. The component mounting method according to claim 7, wherein in the deciding process, the work sequence information is decided based on floor layout information including at least one of a kind, a size and a position of each facility constituting the component mounting line.
 11. The component mounting method according to claim 7, further comprising: acquiring information indicating a log-in state of each of portable terminals owned by the worker, wherein in the deciding process, when the portable terminal owned by the worker to be assigned a work is not in the log-in state, the work is assigned to another worker whose portable terminal is in the log-in state based on the information from the log-in state information acquisition portion.
 12. The component mounting method according to claim 7, wherein in the deciding process, when a work high in emergency occurs after the information transmission portion transmits the work sequence information to the workers, the work sequence decision portion decides work sequence information again so that the work high in emergency is performed with priority, and the information transmission portion transmits the work sequence information decided again to the workers, wherein the work high in emergency is a work for supplying components whose remaining number becomes below a remaining number threshold set as a limit or whose remaining number becomes zero. 